James b



(No Model.)

J.'B. RATHBUN. INPLATING TUBI: PoR PNEUMATIG TIRES. No.- 509,097. v Patented Nov. 21, 1893.

INVENTORI By his AliomeJ/S,

THE NATlcNAl. Llwoamwuma ocMFANv. wAsmNuroN. n.0.

. UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

JAMES E. EATHBUN, oE NEW YORK, N. Y.Y

lNFLATlNG-TUBE FOR PNEUMATIC TIRES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart ofLetters Patent No. 509,097, dated November 21, 1893.

Application iiled J'uly 31,1893. SerialNo. 481,939. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES B. RATHBUN, of New York city, New York, have invented an Improved Iniation-Tube for Tires and Process of Making the Same, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to an improved rubber inflation tube for the tires of cycles and other light vehicles and more particularly to the mode of arranging the diaphragm within the tube and the mode of forming the seam at the overlapping ends of the tube.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure lis a longitudinal section of the tube with the lower` compartment inflated. Fig. 2 is a similar section with the upper compartment iniiated; Fig. 3 a longitudinal section through the two ends of the tube before they are joined; Fig. 4. a similarsection after thejoint is formed, on line rm, m, Fig. 6; Fig. 5 a cross section 011 line a: Fig. 4; Fig. 6 a cross section on line Iy, y, Fig. 2, and Fig. 7 across section on line e', 2, Fig. 1.

The letter a, represents a rubber tube adapted to be placed upon the concave tire of a wheel as usual. by a diaphragm b into an upper and a lower chamber, either of which may be independently inflated by means of the nozzles c, el. The nozzle @communicates with the lower chamber, while the nozzle d communicates. with the upper chamber. l In order that the nozzle cl may enter the upper chamber directly and without flexible connections extending through the lower chamber, it is provided with a grooved head d which engages the diaphragm b, and holds it at this point down tight upon the inner face of tube a.. In ordinary use, the upper chamber is inflatedby nozzle cl (Fig. 2), when the diaphragm will lie flat upon the inner half of tube a. In case the tube is punctured on the road by a stone, dac., the lower chamber is inflated by nozzle c (Fig. l), to force the diaphragm upward and again render the tube air tight. In this position, the diaphragm b, though held down at the nozzle d, will swell upward all around the nozzle (Figs. 1 and 7) and practically produce a perfect, air tight tube.

The tube a is divided n With my construction, it will be observed,

I dispense with any flexible connection within the lower chamber, that conveys the air from the nozzle d, into the upper chamber, but am enabled to carry the air directly from the nozzle d, into the upper chamber.

In order to connect the two ends of the tube during its manufacture, I proceed as follows: The diaphragm b is connected to the tube a. bycenient along its edges b2 (before the tube is seamed longitudinally), excepting however at the ends b', of the diaphragm which remain detached. Next the tube is seamed longitudinally and one tube end is slipped into the other, the inner tube entering the slits of the outer tube. The telescoped ends are joined by cement, after which the operation is completed. It will be seen that by disconnecting the ends b' of the diaphragm, I am enabled to insert the tube ends into one another to a distance limited only by the length of the slits. Thus a very long and stronglap joint may be formed, in spite of the diaphragm and without unduly thickening the joint.

1. An inflation tube provided with an inner diaphragm and a nozzle d, that connects the diaphragm to the base of the tube, around the air inlet opening, substantially as specilied. 2. VAn inflation tube provided with an inner diaphragm, and Ywith a nozzle d having a grooved head d', that engages such diaphragm and connects it to the tube, substantially as specified.

3. The process of forming an inflation tube which consists in attaching a diaphragm to the tube so as to leave its ends b' disconnected, telescoping the tube ends so that the inner tube end enters the slits of the outer tube end and then closing the joint substantially as specified.

JAMES B. RATHBUN.

Witnesses: y l

F. v. BRIEsEN, WM. SCHULZ. 

